Any 15" Cabs That Sound Amazing w/o Subs ?

My brother mentioned to me that there are 15's on stands ( that he's been told ) that sound very close to having subs such as the E.V. ZXA5's. I've been reading alot about the Yamaha DXR15/DSR15 as well.

Right now we have an eight channel Yamaha powered head and a couple of Yamaha 12 " main cabs and two monitors. Vocals only. The problem is that the kick drum can get buried. We're a six piece funk band that plays in bars of about a hundred or so. Very small towns. My brother will let me use his Presonus mixer and I'm thinking that converting what we have into a monitor system (so that all of our singers have their own monitor) and a couple of the above would be a good way to go. Is this the smart move ? The E.V.'s are about $1,400 each and the Yamaha's are $700/$1000 ea.

Offhand, I'd think that a pair of just about any high-quality 15-inch mains would work nicely for your needs - whether designed to operate effectively without subs or not - given the relatively small rooms in which you play. Especially since you play funk, which typically works very well at moderate volumes, and doesn't require super-high SPL in order to get across.

If you were playing high-octane hard rock in larger rooms, it would likely be a different story. But it's not.

My brother mentioned to me that there are 15's on stands ( that he's been told ) that sound very close to having subs such as the E.V. ZXA5's. I've been reading alot about the Yamaha DXR15/DSR15 as well.

Right now we have an eight channel Yamaha powered head and a couple of Yamaha 12 " main cabs and two monitors. Vocals only. The problem is that the kick drum can get buried. We're a six piece funk band that plays in bars of about a hundred or so. Very small towns. My brother will let me use his Presonus mixer and I'm thinking that converting what we have into a monitor system (so that all of our singers have their own monitor) and a couple of the above would be a good way to go. Is this the smart move ? The E.V.'s are about $1,400 each and the Yamaha's are $700/$1000 ea.

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I'd go with 12" mains and a subwoofer(s). You really need to put the bass and kick out front where it belongs. Given the genre and band size, you are correct: the kick drum will get buried very quickly.

I use a peavey XR8600 *(older version) for smaller gigs and a weekly blues jam. Sometimes - I will run without a crossover, I go out from main out on front to a crest cpx1500 and into a single sub. it works well and the tops don't get overwhelmed with lows. a friend used this setup with his smaller 15" subs (2) and I have to be honest......the 18 (Carvin) smoked them. i was a little suprised.

Like Zoober said - I think the 12's work well with the sub - but I do use 15s sometimes.

I use a peavey XR8600 *(older version) for smaller gigs and a weekly blues jam. Sometimes - I will run without a crossover, I go out from main out on front to a crest cpx1500 and into a single sub. it works well and the tops don't get overwhelmed with lows. a friend used this setup with his smaller 15" subs (2) and I have to be honest......the 18 (Carvin) smoked them. i was a little suprised.

Like Zoober said - I think the 12's work well with the sub - but I do use 15s sometimes.

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I do the same thing using a similar (Behringer) powered mixer with Carvin PM-12's for tops. Run the main out to a Crown XLS2000 into a Carvin LS1800 sub.

I'd add a KW181. I wouldn't revamp the system, just amend and cut some low end duty off your current system which will only help it's clarity.

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K10's on Ksub. Tight and punchy bass. Great dispersion, pretty small. The Ksub doesn't do the Dj kind of earth quaking bass thing but it does a great job on bass and drums. Some folks slag 'em as the spec sheet doesn't read like a dj sub ... Sounds really good in a band context though. K10's have a rather broad dispersion and for me, they fit into a lot of spaces well.

I heard A set of Powered JBLs, not sure which exact model, that I was told were "on Par" with the QSCK12s. I thought that they had a lot of bass and was suprised at how MUCH - until I realized how loud they were to get that. K12s - kind of the same.

If that fits your bill - thats cool, but I really try to strive for tolerable volume AND solid bass from Kick - keys, bass, etc. without having to hit the threshold that these did.

but it's not just a question of subs. he's also upgrading the monitors (am i reading that correctly?) going to each singer having their own monitor. that can be a bigger deal than whether the kick is heard- if your singers are having trouble hearing themselves.

to your 1st question i've heard lots of good about the yamaha.

i will say if you're willing to spend $2800 on 2 EVs why not pick up 2 tops and a powered sub? i think the live x can be had for that, maybe k8s and a kw181. (don't laugh at the 8s unless you've played through them).

but it's not just a question of subs. he's also upgrading the monitors (am i reading that correctly?) going to each singer having their own monitor. that can be a bigger deal than whether the kick is heard- if your singers are having trouble hearing themselves.

to your 1st question i've heard lots of good about the yamaha.

i will say if you're willing to spend $2800 on 2 EVs why not pick up 2 tops and a powered sub? i think the live x can be had for that, maybe k8s and a kw181. (don't laugh at the 8s unless you've played through them).

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Yeah - one band I'm in is looking at two EV ELX112P tops and a single ELX118P sub - 2 grand. If you go with the newer ZLX112P tops it's 400 less.

I think 12 (or even 10) inch tops with an 18" sub will blow away any 15 setup with no sub.

but it's not just a question of subs. he's also upgrading the monitors (am i reading that correctly?) going to each singer having their own monitor. that can be a bigger deal than whether the kick is heard- if your singers are having trouble hearing themselves.

to your 1st question i've heard lots of good about the yamaha.

i will say if you're willing to spend $2800 on 2 EVs why not pick up 2 tops and a powered sub? i think the live x can be had for that, maybe k8s and a kw181. (don't laugh at the 8s unless you've played through them).

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Yes, all the backups need a monitor so it should work well by adding a couple powered mains and using our old ones as a 3rd and 4th monitor My brother has a powered jbl sub I can use in conjunction. So I guess I don't have to worry a out the two mains having sub characteristics, after all.